A Damn Romance Novel
by TheWizardStyles
Summary: Beth Greene had promised herself she'd never fall in love. Love was dangerous during the end of the world. Suddenly, it hit her like a ton of bricks. Beth was in love, and she wasn't sure what to do about it. You can't just stop being in love, but what happens when the man you love might not love you back? Or worse, may die at any time? Bethyl fanfiction. Season four and on.
1. Chapter 1

Beth Greene was now seventeen years old, she supposed. She didn't know everything, but she new all she could about the world she now lived in. She now knew enough to know, that even if you say goodbye, it didn't make a difference. Words couldn't save a person if they were destined to die, which is why, on a particularly sunny day, Beth Greene refused to say goodbye to her boyfriend Zach, as he was leaving to go on a run with what Beth liked to call the Running Team.

What Beth Greene didn't know, was that Zach would die on his run.

Later, when she finds out, it only cements in her mind the uselessness of words.

But for now, Beth is content with her new boyfriend. He was tall with dark brown hair. He was kind, which was refreshing in this world that could bring out the worst in people. But Beth kept her heart guarded, she had to. Life was no longer a guarantee. People died, no matter how much you liked them, for Beth could not bring herself to say that she loved Zach. No, love was dangerous now. Love could kill as easily as a bullet now. She had seen what it had done to Rick when Lori died. To her father when her mother died. To her sister when their brother died.

No, to love was to commit suicide.

So Beth didn't fall in love with Zach. She knew she could, it would have been easy, but she refused. She loved enough people that would cause her pain later on, she didn't need to add to the list.

Zach was standing near the truck, making sure they had sufficient supplies when Beth walked up.

"You came to say goodbye?" Zach asked, hope in his eyes. Instead of replying, Beth placed a kiss on Zach's cheek.

"You know why I'm doing this right?" Zach asked. "To help out."

Beth nodded. "I know." She said. "I get it, just be careful." Zach had been one of the survivors from Woodbury. Beth liked most of the people from Woddbury. They were nice, and they had children. Oh how Beth loved children. She spent most of her time with baby Judith, but she was happy to watch the older kids, as well.

Beth smiled and kissed Zach on the lips just as Mr. Daryl Dixon walked past.

"It's like a damn romance novel." Daryl scoffed. Beth shook her head and walked away. She had hoped that now that they had a safe place to live and more people Daryl would find someone. Though she silently hoped something would happen between Carol and Daryl.

As Beth walked away, Zach called, "Aren't you going to say goodbye?"

"Nope." Beth shot over her shoulder. She smiled. She liked Zach, and she would be sad when she gets told that he was dead, but at that moment, he wasn't dead. She liked him, but she wasn't sure she could ever allow herself to love him.

Beth went on her rounds, checking on the children, checking in on Judith. She took over lunch duty and cooked and served everyone. She checked in on Maggie and Glenn and on her father, then she settled down in her cell and began reading a book Carol had suggested to her. The group had picked Woodbury clean. It had quite the library.

Later that day, the Running Team returned just before sundown. Beth had no idea that the group had returned until she looked up and saw Mr. Daryl Dixon standing in the opening of her cell.

"Zach." He started, then stopped, almost as if he had a lump in his throat. Beth understood, and she was sad, but she wasn't going to let anyone know that she was sad. She promptly stood up and walked over the the board in her cell that said 'Accident Free' and removed the number card that bore the number three, leaving only the card embossed with the number zero. No longer was it thirty days since the last accident.

Mr. Daryl Dixon watched the blond haired teen with well disguised curiosity. He would never let anyone know, but she peaked his interest. She was always singing and walking around like her head was in the clouds. Mr. Daryl Dixon could not understand how one could do such a thing. There were so many things to be concerned with, not he least of which face almost certain death whenever one wakes up in the morning.

But Beth Greene seemed unaffected by death, and Mr. Daryl Dixon cold not figure out how.

Beth turned to the man. "Are you okay?" She asked him.

Daryl looked down at his shoes then looked up at the young girl. "Just tired of losing people." He said.

She paused. Then Beth stepped forward and hugged the man. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed the side of his face against his chest. Mr. Daryl Dixon was tense under Beth Greene's arms. She slowly pulled away and looked him in the eyes. He nodded in acknowledgment, then walked off to do... whatever it was that he did. Beth watched him walk away and took in a deep breath.

Why was her heart racing? Why were butterflies fluttering around in her stomach? Beth shook her head and walked back into her cell. She had barely a chapter left in the book Carol had suggested to her.

A book about a man and woman who were wrong for each other in almost every way, but overcame their differences and fell in love.

 **Author's Note: This is the first chapter in my Bethyl fanfiction. I was asked if I was going to write one and it took me a while to figure out how to start it, but I have started it and I hope you like it. Have a good day!**


	2. Chapter 2

Beth Green had always loved children and had always wanted children of her own. She loved to watch baby Judith and feed her and sing to her. She offered to watch the Woodbury children if need be. She was even considering starting a school of sorts, but most of her days were spent mothering Judith.

She figured that Judith was as close to motherhood as she would ever get, unless Maggie and Glenn were to have a child. Then Beth could be an aunt, and what a great aunt she would be, she would think to herself.

Beth Green had considered the possibility of having a child now, but could not bring herself to come to a decision. They were safe in the prison, yes, but the prison was only a bubble, and there were things in the world that wished to pop it. Michonne had gone to find the Governor multiple times with no luck. The walkers piled against the fence, more and more each day, threatening to knock it down. Yes, the prison was safe, for now, but this was no world to grow up in.

Michonne had returned the day before and was now heading back out. Beth was up and taking care of Judith when she heard the screaming. She knew enough to stay put but God did she want to help. She couldn't bare to hear people scream. She pressed the baby's head to her chest and sang as loud as she dared, trying to keep the baby from hearing the distress filled noises.

Soon there after, Maggie entered the cell block with Michonne. Michonne was obviously hurt and Maggie helped her up the stairs to her cell. Beth followed, prepared to assist in any way despite the child at her breast. Maggie help sit Michonne down on the bottom bunk then ran off to take up guard duty as Glenn was predisposed at an impromptu council meeting.

Beth Green placed the baby in the corner and took up a roll of wrap perfect for ankles and other joints and proceeded to wrap Michonne's ankle.

"It was stupid." Michonne was saying. "I was stupid. They should have left me."

"We care about you." Beth replied. "There's no way they woulda left you." Beth could not believe what had just escaped Michonne's lips. Did she really believe that anyone would leave her to the walkers? That she was cared about so little that no one would risk their lives to save her?

"They could have gotten hurt." Michonne needlessly protested.

"We care about you." Beth repeated more firmly. "Hurt is part of the package." Just as she was finishing wrapping the woman's ankle with rudimentary skill, baby Judith wailed for attention. Beth jumped up and grabbed the baby. Perhaps she was hungry, it was about time to feed her. As Beth Greene feed the baby and then walked around with her and sung to her the first song that came to mind, she was almost completely oblivious to what was happening on the other side of the prison. The risk they were all in. But for a moment, Beth only had one concern and that was Judith.

Then, as Beth was walking by Michonne's cell, Judith spit up carrots onto Beth's blouse.

Beth quickly ran into Michonne's cell and held the baby to the woman. "Take her, please I'm covered in carrots." The other woman jerked away and protested loudly.

"No, take her away." Michonne pleaded, but paused at the look on Beth Greene's face. She really did not understand Michonne at all. Yes, she cared for the woman, but it was moments like these that Beth realized just how little she knew about almost everyone around her.

Finally, Michonne took the baby into her arms. Beth ran off to change her blouse. As she returned, she was light glistening off of Michonne's cheeks as she held baby Judith to her breast. There was pain there, Beth knew. She was not sure as to what had happened to Michonne it the past, but it hurt her even now and haunted her every step. Beth stepped forward and took the baby, wishing to end Michonne's pain however temporarily.

Beth Greene walked away with Judith. She sang to the baby until she fell asleep, then she put her in her crib and went on her way. Beth met Glenn in one of the hallways where she finally heard what had transpired earlier that day. She finally realized the threat to everyone. An illness. An illness they could not treat for they had no idea what it was. Glenn had kept his distance, worried that he was infected and could pass it on to his sister-in-law who would then take it back and pass it on to Judith.

Beth Greene returned to the cell block and looked in on Judith. No, this world was not safe for children.

 **Author's Note: I know it's been a while but my second semester of college just started so I hadn't had time to watch this episode yet, but I finally got around to it. There wasn't much of Beth in this episode, therefore not a lot of Beth and Daryl, so I did my best. It is a short chapter and I'm sorry, it's almost eleven o'clock and I've only had about three hours of sleep today. Please leave a review and have a nice day!**


	3. Chapter 3

We've all got jobs to do. That's what Hershel Greene always told his daughters when times got tough. We've all got jobs to do. Beth Greene repeated this to herself over and over and over again as she locked herself and the baby Judith away in the administration building, as far away from the sick as possible. We've all got jobs to do.

This is what Beth told Maggie when she came to see her little sister.

"We've all got jobs to do." Beth said. She wasn't going to allow herself, or Maggie, to cry. She had heard that a small group was going to get medication close by.

"Glenn has it." Maggie informed her little sister. "And Daddy's insisting that he stay in there to help the sick."

"We have to be strong." Beth said.

"I know." Maggie finished. "We've all got jobs to do, right?" The two girls sat in silence with only Judith's gurgles to occupy their ears. Then the two girls parted in a kind and sisterly manner, not knowing that in just a few days every aspect of their lives at the prison was about the change.

* * *

Two days later, Hershel Greene informed his youngest child that it was safe for her to come out. The sick were medicated and, perhaps, not contagious anymore. Beth placed Judith in the care of another trusted adult and made her way outside. She breathed in deep the fresh air. She closed her eyes and soaked in the sun she hadn't seen in days. Suddenly, an explosion rattled the prison, and Beth, to its core. The girl opened her eyes, adrenaline starting to coarse through her veins. She snapped to attention and looked around.

There, beyond the fence, was the Governor. He had a tank, a few cars, and lots of people and guns.

Beth couldn't believe her eyes. He was still alive. The man who had had Glenn beaten like an egg and had terrorized Maggie and haunted her like a ghost for days thereafter.

The Governor called out to Rick and Rick crossed the field to meet him, to talk with him. Beth didn't hear a word between them, not when Rick was still in the courtyard nor when he was down by the fence. She didn't care to hear what that evil man had to say. She felt something cold and hard press into her arm. She turned and saw Mr. Daryl Dixon handing her a gun. She took it positioned it so that she was ready to shoot if things didn't go right. And "right" was certainly not where this altercation was going.

Beth turned and saw that the Governor had kidnapped Michonne and her father. The two of them had been out burning walkers after a horde of them had broken through the fence and Rick and Carl killed them all.

Beth watched the proceedings as if in a trance; everything happened in slow motion.

One minute, things seemed to be going well, then the Governor took Michonne's sword and held it close to Hershel Greene's neck. Beth's heart leapt into her throat and her stomach dropped into her feet. After a few tense moments, the Governor took the sword and cut the side of Hershel Greene's neck.

The scream that left Beth Greene's lips was a sound of despair. She screamed and hot tears rolled down her cheeks. She held up the gun she was holding and started shooting. She didn't care if she killed people, her father was dead, it didn't matter anymore. She shot at the people across the fence until she ran out of ammo. Maggie covered her as she ran and collected more bullets.

"Beth, you have to stay and protect the bus." Maggie told her sister. "You have to stay here, I'm going to go get Glenn."

"But..." Beth protested. She didn't want to stay by the bus, get on the bus, or protect the bus. She wanted to help Maggie.

"We've all got jobs to do." Maggie said pressing a gun into Beth's arms. Then Maggie turned and ran into the prison.

Beth helped people get on the bus, but she couldn't just sit and wait. She ran around and did other things, shooting and pointing people toward the bus.

Then the bus drove away.

The tank had rolled over the fences, letting in hordes and hordes of walkers.

Beth kept shooting, at walkers at people, taking notice of her surroundings and just how bad everything had been destroyed.

Someone roughly grabbed Beth's arm. "We gotta go, Beth." Daryl told the young girl. "We gotta go."

Beth took one more look around the place she had called home, then ran after Mr. Daryl Dixon.

Beth and Daryl ran. And ran. And ran. They ran and killed walkers and ran some more until they couldn't run anymore and they collapsed in a field. Their chests heaved and their legs ached. Beth thought about the others. Maggie. Glenn. Rick. Carl. Judith.

 _They go_ _t out._ Beth Greene told herself. _They got out, there's no way they didn't get out. They got out._

Beth Greene made a promise, to herself and to her father, she was going to survive. She was. Just because she thought, hoped, prayed, that everyone else got out, didn't mean that they actually had. But she had. She looked up at the almost stranger across the fire. She had been living with the man for more than a year, but still she didn't know much about him. He may have been the man, but out of the two of them, it was clear to Beth who was the strongest. She promised him that she was going to help him survive, too. She was.

 _After all,_ Beth told herself, _we've all got jobs to do._

 **Author's Note: Sorry it's taken me so long to post. The season started up again on Sunday and I got inspired all over again. How's this story going so far? I don't really like it much, and that might just be because Beth wasn't really prominent in the series at all until the end of season four, but I'm finally getting into the part of the season where it was just Beth and Daryl alone which is going to make writing easier. As I was writing this, I realized that, in the show, the last thing Maggie ever told Beth was "We've all got jobs to do." I hadn't noticed until now. Spoiler alert: Beth doesn't die in this. This wouldn't be a very good Bethyl fanfiction if she did. Alright, please leave a review and have a nice day!**


	4. Chapter 4

All of a sudden, Beth Greene found herself running for her life again. It had been a while since she had needed to, such a long while that she had started to hope that she would never need to run again. But that's not how life works, Beth figured out. And so she ran. Hiding wasn't much of an option, where do you hide when there's no place in sight? Mr. Daryl Dixon did his best, but Beth could see the hurt he refused to show. It was a lot of nonverbal communication between the two of them, looks and points and grunts, mostly from his side. Beth tried to initiate conversation, but after their first night together, she gave up.

They had tried to look for people. All they found were corpses and walkers.

After days, maybe even a week, Beth Greene and Mr. Daryl Dixon settle down to a suck-ass camp, in Beth's opinion, to feast upon snake. Suddenly, as they sat and the sun hung low in the sky, Beth Greene had a small epiphany.

"Hey, I want a drink." Beth voiced to the redneck. He, off course, didn't say anything, he only tossed at her a bottle of water. "No, like a real drink. Like, alcohol." Beth amended. "I never had one... 'cause of my dad. But I want one now. There's no point to not having one anymore."

Again, the redneck said nothing, just continued to eat snake.

"Fine." Beth sighed defeated. "I'll go find my own drink. Enjoy your snake jerky." Beth Greene stood up and took Daryl's knife. She walked off into the woods, hoping that Mr. Daryl Dixon would follow her. He, of course, didn't. Beth shook her head and continued walking. He didn't understand. She needed this. She needed to have a drink. It really didn't matter anymore if she had one or not. It was the principle of the thing. The world was complete and total anarchy and tomorrow wasn't a promise; she needed to live as much as possible before it was too late.

As Beth Greene walked, she heard walkers ahead. She hid behind a tree, knife at the ready. She bent down, picked up a rock, then tossed it in the opposite direction of her hiding place. She carefully peaked out from behind the tree and watched the walkers. There were five of them. Three turned toward the sound of the rock hitting the ground. The fourth took a few steps then turned and followed the other three. Just as Beth was getting ready to attack the fifth walker, it too turned and walked away.

Beth Greene let out a sigh of relief, then felt someone grab her arm. She had enough sense not to scream, then she came face to face with Mr. Daryl Dixon.

"Let go of me." Beth hissed, wrenching her arm out of his grip. "I'm not goin' back to that suck ass camp, I'm gonna find a drink." Then she held up her hand and made a vulgar sign at him. She turned to walk away when the the man grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her after him.

"Let go, Daryl." Beth demanded, tugging. Beth Greene was no match for Mr. Daryl Dixon, and he pulled her all the way back to their camp.

"I want a drink." Beth said. She was surprised and slightly embarrassed at how childish she sounded, but this was important to her.

Mr. Daryl Dixon gave her a look up and down then started packing up the camp. Beth tried to keep a smile off of her face. She had won. Maybe it was the fact that Daryl was going to be alone with out her that had made him change his mind. Beth started walking around the small camp, packing things up as well, and finally allowed herself a smile. She was finally going to get her drink.

Mr. Daryl Dixon and Beth Greene walked almost aimlessly for hours until they stumbled upon a country club.

"Golfers like to drink, right?" She looked at Daryl, but she knew he wasn't going to say anything. She turned and led the way toward the big white building.

 **Author's Note: Alright, here's the next chapter in my Bethyl fanfiction. I'm really sorry about not posting on this story very often, I'm really t** **rying. I have this other story I'm working on but I'm catching up to season six so maybe when that story's on hiatus it'll be easier to post to this one. Please leave a review and have a nice day!**


	5. Chapter 5

When they first walked into the country club, the first thing Beth Greene and Mr. Daryl Dixon experienced was the iconic smell of rotting walkers. Many walkers were hanging from the ceiling. They could have been people hoping to check out early, or they could have been lynched, either way, Beth Greene felt sick to her stomach. She was used to walkers by now, but she wasn't used to things like this. The depravity that lived inside people still surprised her, even after the Governor.

They found flashlights and started looking around. Mr. Daryl Dixon started to shove money and jewelry int a small back bag.

"Why are you doin' that?" Beth asked the man. That stuff didn't matter anymore. Very little mattered anymore. The redneck didn't say anything, he just looked up at her and continued about his business. Walkers began to slam themselves into the doors of the building and Beth and Daryl headed deeper into the country club.

The building was dark. Everything was ransacked, but if Beth had learned anything, it was that not everything worth taking is obvious. Maybe they could find something more than just the drink she desperately needed. As Daryl walked off to look for God knew what, Beth continued down the hall from the kitchen and pulled out her knife, just in case.

In a room farther down the hall, Beth found what looked like a wine bottle. She climbed up the aluminum shelf and pulled it down, confirming the type of alcohol. She sighed and reveled in her victory until a walker stumbled out of a room and lurched toward the girl. They struggled, the knife and flashlight in the hand Beth was using to push the walker away. The only thing Beth could think to do was to break the bottle in her free hand. It broke with a crash and Beth began to hit the walker with the sharp end. She repeatedly struck the walker to no avail. With a surge of strength, Beth pushed the walker against the wall, switched her knife into her free hand and stabbed the walker through the eye.

The decayed body slid to the ground and Beth stood over it, breathing heavily. Mr. Daryl Dixon stumbled in, flashlight and crossbow at the ready. He dropped his arms when he saw the walker on the floor and Beth standing over it.

"Took you long enough." Beth huffed at him

Daryl looked pointedly at the lump on the ground. "You got it." Beth huffed again and Daryl walked back down the hall and away from the girl. It may have seemed like he didn't like her, but Mr. Daryl Dixon truly had been scared that Beth was in danger. She reminded him that there was still good in the world, that not everyone had been ruined. Like hell he was going to tell her that though.

After a moment, Beth Greene followed the redneck down the hall and even deeper into the building. The pair made their way into the country club's store and Beth gravitated toward the clothes along the wall. In the corner of the room, the top half of a female walker had been mounted and posed on the bottom half of a mannequin. Beth tried to ignore it. she picked out a yellow top and a white cardigan and, when she was sure Daryl wasn't looking, she changed into the cleaner clothes. But Beth couldn't forget about the mutilated woman. She walked over to it and tried to take it down. It was heavier than she had expected and she was having trouble taking it down.

"Help me get her down." Beth called across the room.

"Leave it." Daryl shot over his shoulder.

"Help me get her down." Beth repeated with more feeling. Daryl sighed and stood up. He walked over and looked around. He picked up a blanket on the ground and tossed it over the statue.

"There, happy?" He asked her gruffly.

"Thanks." Beth chirped. Daryl just looked at her and lead the way farther into the building. All of a sudden, it was like everywhere they turned there were walkers. There were walkers in rooms they passed and down another hallway. They ran down their hallway and into a room that looked like a kind of locker room. Beth was running toward the door at the other end of the room when he noticed that Daryl wasn't right behind her. She turned around and watched as he shot one walker, then picked up a golf club and hit anther one. He killed all the walkers that stumbled into the room. The last walker he went ham on, beating it like beating was going out of style.

He stumbled a little when he had had enough and looked down at the walker breathing heavily.

"I know you think this is stupid." Beth piped up. "So, beat on walkers if you need to, but I need to do this." All he did was look at her. She turned around and walked away.

Finally, finally, they found a bar area. With renewed vigor, Beth started looking around the room. Daryl kept himself occupied while Beth searched the room as thoroughly as she could.

"Peach schnapps." Beth said, holding the clear bottle in her hand. "Is it any good?"

"No." Daryl said shortly.

Beth shrugged and started looking for a glass.

"Who needs a cup?" Beth asked when she couldn't find one that was clean enough. She sat down on the other side of the bar and slowly opened the bottle. Suddenly, an arm reached around the youth and grabbed the bottle.

"This your first drink, it ain't gonna be no schnapps." Mr. Daryl Dixon commented, smashing the bottle on the ground. "C'mon. I know a place." Then Mr. Daryl Dixon led the way back out of the building. Beth Greene followed the man, doing everything in her power not to smile. She felt like he was finally starting to warm up to her. That's all she asked for in this cruel world, for this person, who could very well be the last person she ever saw, to like her.

 **Author's Note: Okay, I know it takes me forever to post to this story, but I'm really going to try, I promise. Please leave a review and have a nice day!**


	6. Chapter 6

Mr. Daryl Dixon led the young Beth Greene to a shack of a house in the middle of the forest.

"I was expecting a liquor store." Beth commented. The redneck looked at her then walked over to a shed on the side of the house. He opened up the door and picked up a crate. Beth was just behind him as Daryl turned around and handed her the crate. "What is that?"

"Moonshine." Daryl said, walking back toward the house. Beth smiled to herself as she followed the man inside. She put the crate down on the table and watched as Daryl found a cup and poured some of the clear liquid inside. He placed it in front of the blonde and she all of a suddenly got nervous.

"What?" Daryl asked. "Too good for moonshine?"

"No, it's just..." Beth trailed off and stared at the glass. She remembered her dad telling her that bad moonshine could make you go blind.

She told Daryl as much who replied with, "There ain't nothin' to see out there anymore anyway."

"Okay." Beth said quietly. She picked up the glass and took a sip. The alcohol burned on the way down and Beth crinkled her nose. "That's disgusting. The most disgusting thing I've ever tasted." She looked up at Daryl.

"It ain't supposed to me good." Daryl replied.

Beth took another drink and then started to pour more into her glass. She was happy she did this and that the sulky Mr. Daryl Dixon had helped her. The alcohol was giving her a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach, making her braver and lighter.

"You better slow down." Daryl warned.

Beth Greene smiled at the man. "This one's for you."

"Naw, I gotta chaperon." Daryl replied. "'Sides, you won't like me drunk."

"Fine." Beth shrugged and continued drank some more. Daryl hung his crossbow on the wall then started hanging things in front of the windows. Beth stood up and carried the cup into the living room. She sat down hard, wondering if she was already drunk, and picked up the pink ceramic ash tray in the shape of a bra and tossed it into the middle of the room.

"Who would want to buy this?" Beth asked.

"My dad." Daryl turned around and studied the thing. "He'd stand them up all over the place. Use them for target practice."

"You're dad shot things in the house?" Beth stared at Daryl. It was the first time she had realized just how different the two of them were. It was an easy thing to forget when the usual boundaries between people were nonexistent.

All Mr. Daryl Dixon did was shrug. Beth held up a jar of moonshine and again offered it to him. Daryl shrugged again and grabbed it from her. He took of the top and drank the contents in only a few swigs as Beth set up the table in the living room.

"It's called never have I ever." Beth informed him. "It's a drinking game, ever heard of it?" Daryl was now sitting across from Beth, watching her in that careful way of his.

"Never needed a game to get drunk." Daryl replied. "How do you know this game?"

"I watched my friends play." Beth shrugged. "Okay, so the rules are I say something I've never done, and if you've done it, you drink, and if you haven't, I drink. Then we switch. Here, I'll start with something obvious, like, I've never shot a crossbow. Now you drink because you have. Now it's your turn."

Daryl took a swig of moonshine the shrugged. "I dunno."

"You have to say something." Beth pressed. "Just say the first thing that pops into your head."

"I dunno." Daryl repeated. "Um, I ain't never been outta Georgia."

"Really?" Beth was incredulous. "That's a good one." Beth took a sip. "Okay, I've never been drunk and done somethin' I've regretted."

At that moment, as Daryl took a deep gulp of alcohol, Beth felt the mood of the room shift. Before, it was light and fun almost, now it felt darker.

"I've done a lot of things." Daryl murmured. "I ain't never been on vacation."

"What about campin'?" Beth asked.

"Naw, it was just somethin' I had to learn."

"Did your dad teach you?" Beth wondered.

"Yeah." Daryl gave a little nod as Beth took another sip.

"I've never been to prison." Beth said. "Like, as a prisoner."

Daryl stared at the girl. Beth felt the dark tone of their supposedly fun game turn darker.

"So that's what you think of me?"

"I didn't mean anything serious." Beth defended herself. "I just meant, like, the drunk tank. Even my dad got locked up for that."

"Drink."

"Hold on, wait, you've never been to a prison?" Beth pressed. "Like, as a prison guard? Were you a prison guard before?"

"No."

"It's your turn again." Beth said, trying to change the subject.

"I gotta take a piss." Daryl stood up and Beth stared into her cup. He walked into a corner of the kitchen and dropped the jar of moonshine he had been holding.

"Daryl, you have to be quiet." Beth hissed.

"Can't hear you." Daryl shot over his shoulder.

"Daryl!"

"It's my turn, you said." Daryl turned around. "I never ate frozen yogurt. Never got nothin' from Santa. Never had a pet pony. Ooh, never sang out in public like everything was fine." Daryl pushed a chair halfway across the room. "Sure as hell never slit my wrists lookin' for attention."

"Daryl..." Beth started but he cut her off when the unmistakable sound of a walker rose up from outside the window.

"You said you ain't never shot a crossbow?" Daryl pulled his crossbow off of the wall. "C'mon, I'll teach you." He grabbed Beth's wrist and wrenched her up and out the door. Daryl shot a bolt at the walker and secured it to a tree. "Look at that. All you gotta do is aim and shoot." The redneck grabbed Beth and held her with one arm while he shot the walker in the shoulder with the other. "See, it's easy. Ain't you havin' fun?"

"Daryl, stop, just kill it." Beth begged, but Daryl wasn't listening.

"C'mon, let's go again." Daryl walked up to the walker and pulled out some of the bolts he had shot at it except for the one that held it to the tree, all the while the thing snapped at him, trying to take a bite. Having had enough, Beth pulled out her knife, walked up to the walker, and stabbed it in the head.

"What'd you do that for?" Daryl asked angrily. "I was havin' fun, weren't you havin' fun?"

"This isn't fun, Daryl." Beth protested. "Killing them isn't supposed to be fun."

"What'da what from me? Huh? What?" Daryl yelled.

"I want you to stop acting like you don't give a crap about anything. Like nothing hurts you." Beth yelled back, but even as she said it, she could see the hurt in his eyes, but she was too fired up and drunk to care.

"That what you think?" Daryl asked.

"That's what I know." Beth replied. "You just stomp around like what we went through didn't matter. Like the people we lost don't matter."

Daryl opened his mouth to respond but Beth cut him off.

"I know you look at me and see another dead girl." Beth spat. "But I'm not. I'm alive. I'm not Michonne, I'm not Carol, I'm not Maggie, but I made it. And it kills you knowing that I'm not like you or them but I made it. _I made it_. I'm alive. And you don't get to treat me like crap just because you're afraid."

"I ain't..." Daryl started but again, Beth cut him off.

"I saw that look." Beth said quietly, the burning liquor in her stomach making her brave. "When that little girl came out of the barn after my mom. You were like me. Now God forbid you let anybody get too close."

"I don't get too close, huh?" Daryl snapped. "You'd know all about that. Lost two boyfriends, can't even shed a tear. You're whole family's gone and you're looking around for booze like some dumb college bitch. You don't get it do you? Everyone we know's dead!"

"You don't know that." Beth yelled.

"You ain't never gonna see them again." Daryl yelled back. Beth watched as sadness squashed out the anger inside the man before her. "Rick. You ain't never gonna see Maggie again. The Governor, he road right up to our gates. Maybe if I'da done somethin'. Stopped standin' around. And you're dad... maybe... maybe I coulda..." Daryl trailed off and Beth stepped forward and hugged him.

She had been wrong about Mr. Daryl Dixon. He wasn't closed off because he didn't care, he was closed off because he did. As Beth Greene and Mr. Daryl Dixon stood next to the shack, they both felt a slight change in their relationship. It was too subtle to take note of and make sense of in the moment, but soon enough they find out exactly what that shift means.

 **Author's Note: Okay, here is the next chapter in my Bethyl fanfiction, I hope you like my interpretation of the big fight scene. Please leave a review and have a nice day!**


	7. Chapter 7

Beth Greene was drunk. She had never before been drunk in her life. She quite liked the feeling of weightlessness, like all her troubles were being washed away by the clear, burning liquid.

"It's bad to feel this way all the time." Beth Green noted. "But I know why my Dad liked drinking, and why he quit."

"You're lucky you're a happy drunk." Mr. Daryl Dixon responded. He was picking at something on the porch where they sat.

"Yeah." Beth nodded in agreement. "Some people can be real jerks when they drink."

"Yeah I'm a dick." Daryl nodded. "Never stopped me from drinking though." He picked up his big knife and began carving into the porch post in front of him.

Then Mr. Daryl Dixon told Beth a story. "My mom had this dealer. Skinny little tweaker. It wasn't even noon yet but we was over at his house and we was all wasted, Merle was high. There was this show playing. Merle being Merle started poking fun, wouldn't let up. The show was the tweaker's kid's favorite show. Never got to see his kid. Felt guilty or something about it. He punched Merle. I punched the tweaker. Then he pulled out a gun and point it at my head. Thought I was gonna die over a cartoon about a stupid talking dog. Merle's got his gun, everybody's yelling, I'm yelling. Tweaker punched me in the gut. Everyone started laughing, forgot all about it."

Beth and Daryl sat quietly. No words were spoken between them for a full two minutes.

"Wanna know what I was doing before this?" Daryl finally said. "I was drifting. Following Merle. Some redneck asshole with an even bigger redneck asshole for a brother."

"You miss him, don't you?" Beth said. "It's okay, you can miss him, even though he was a jerk, too." Beth smiled. "I miss Maggie. I miss her bossing me around, even. I miss my big brother Sean. I miss my Daddy. You know, I thought he'd live the rest of his life in peace. I though he'd get to be a grandpa 'cause Maggie and Glenn would have a baby. Picnics and birthdays. Then Daddy would die peacefully." Then Beth got sad. "That's just how stupid I am." The girl took a swig of alcohol to try and sooth the tear jerking lump in her throat.

"That's how it was supposed to be." Daryl murmured.

Then there was the twinge. The feeling that something was different. It tugged at both their hearts.

"I wish I could change." Beth said, pushing the twinge away. "Stop being so stupid."

"You have." Daryl replied, also pushing the twinge down. It was such a strange feeling, so foreign to both of them. They would rather push it way and not acknowledge its existence than explore it.

"I haven't changed that much." Beth replied, picking at the fibers sticking out of the holes in the knees of her jeans. "Not like you. You were made for how things are now."

"Naw, I'm just used to it." Daryl defended himself. He didn't want to believe he was made for a world as messed up as this. The world was too messed up, even for him.

"But you got out of it and don't you say you didn't 'cause you did." Beth replied.

"Guess I just need reminding sometimes." Daryl was poking the floorboards of the porch with his knife, purposefully avoiding Beth's eyes. She could see him, the real him, and he wasn't used to being seen at all.

"I'm gonna be gone one day." Beth informed Daryl. "I'm not you or Maggie or Glenn. I'm gonna be gone one day and you're gonna be the last man standing."

Daryl didn't reply.

"You're gonna miss me so bad Daryl Dixon." Beth warned.

"You're not a happy drunk at all." Daryl sighed.

"No, I'm happy, I'm just not blind." Beth smiled a little. "Places like this, Daryl, you have to put behind you."

"What if you can't?" Daryl asked.

"You have to." Beth pressed. "Or it kills you. Kills you here." Beth pressed a hand to her heart.

Daryl and Beth stared at each other for a moment, again feeling that that twinge in their chests.

Suddenly, Beth had an idea. "We should burn it down."

"Burn what down?" Daryl asked.

Beth gestured to the house. Daryl studied the youth, then looked up at the house. Simultaneously, Beth and Daryl stood up and started sprinkling moonshine all over the inside of the house. The liquor trail lead out on the porch. They broke jars of alcohol on the walls and floors and when there was no more moonshine to spill, Beth and Daryl walked outside.

"Wanna do the honors?" Daryl asked. He held out a wade of green bills and handed Beth a pack of matches. She struck one of the matches and lit the wad of money on fire. Daryl threw the flaming bundle onto the porch, igniting the moonshine and setting the house ablaze.

Mr. Daryl Dixon and little Beth Greene stood in front of the burning building, making obscene gestures, and all around enjoying the fleeting moment. When they heard the unmistakable sound of walkers nearing, they turned and walked away. They didn't know where they were going, but in that moment, that didn't matter.

 **Author's Note: Hello guys. Sorry it's taken me so long to post a new chapter, but here you go! Please leave a review and have a nice day!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Alrighty! _A Damn Romance Novel_ lives to die another day! I I meant to post another chapter yesterday (Saturday) but I started school this week and I had to work yesterday so I was too exhausted to write anything. So basically what I'm saying is, I know I said I don't have any set update days, but I'm changing that to Sundays. Sundays are the only days I (obviously) don't have school and I don't work on Sundays, either. So expect updates on Sundays and then maybe a few extra ones during breaks like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Also, I'm on the site Wattpad (heard of it?) if you want original stuff. Just look me up as TheWizardStyles. Please leave a review and have a great day!**

Beth Greene held up the crossbow. The weapon was heavier than she had anticipated. At first, she couldn't even get it up to eye level and keep it there. But it had been days since then and Beth had no problem holding up the crossbow. Mr. Daryl Dixon was even showing Beth how to track walkers. They'd been tracking one or two for the last few miles or so.

"We're getting close." Mr. Daryl Dixon murmured.

"How can you tell?" Beth asked, never taking her eyes off the path.

"The signs are there, you just gotta learn how to read 'em."

Beth looked around. She studied the leaves that lay on the ground. Measured the pattern with what she knew about walker tracks.

"It's all zigzaggy." Beth thoughtfully. More studying. "It's a walker." She said triumphantly, lowering the crossbow and half turning toward Daryl.

"Maybe it's a drunk."

"Admit it." Beth replied, smiling and turning back to the path, holding up the crossbow. "I'm getting pretty good at this. Admit it. Pretty soon I won't need you anymore.

Beth couldn't see the face Daryl made at the comment. If she had, she would have taken it back.

Beth Greene continued to walk through the woods, quietly and carefully. She found herself thinking, _If only Daddy could see me now._ Would he be proud? Maybe not of the drinking, but learning to track and use the crossbow, she was sure he'd be proud. Those were useful skills, things that would keep not only herself alive, but those around her.

Beth made her way past a tall bank of bushes into a clearing. Just ten feet away sat a walker, chewing at something dead with disgusting gurgling noises. Beth glanced over her shoulder at Daryl. Daryl nodded and Beth stepped forward. She had only gotten a couple feet away from the redneck when a trap sprang up and caught her by the ankle and she tumbled to the ground. The tough material of the cowboy boot keeping any real damage at bay.

The walker, being drawn to Beth's sounds of distress, stood up and lurched toward the youth. Beth held up the crossbow and shot an arrow. But the arrow missed and only stuck itself into the walker's cheek. Daryl rushed forward and took the crossbow as Beth tried to free herself.

Mr. Daryl Dixon didn't hesitate as he hit the walker with the butt end of his crossbow, killing it. He dropped the weapon and ran back to Beth and freed her ankle.

"Can you move it?" He asked, concern coloring his voice and his face.

Beth wiggled her angle and foot. It was painful, very painful. But she said, "Yeah." And proceeded to stand up. A hurt ankle, like any sort of injury out there, could mean death. Despite the pain the appendage caused her, Beth had to be fine. She had to be. If she wasn't, she would die, and she wasn't about to do that.

Mr. Daryl Dixon studied the young girl but accepted her response and they continued walking. Beth limped along, at first strong and determined, but after a while, the pain became too great.

"Could you hold up a sec?" Beth asked. They had made it to the edge of a cemetery and Beth found an opportunity to sit.

"You okay?" Mr. Daryl Dixon asked.

"Yeah, I just gotta sit down." Beth replied, leaning down and rubbing her ankle.

"Hold up." Daryl slung his crossbow over the front of his chest then turned his back to the girl, arms outstretched.

"What are you doin'?" She asked, a smile creeping onto her her face.

"Hop on." He replied gruffly.

"Like a piggyback ride?" Now Beth was full on laughing.

"Yeah, a friendly piggyback ride." Daryl huffed. Beth chose not to press the matter and climbed onto the redneck's back.

"Maybe there're people there." Beth commented, gesturing to the house in the distance.

"If there are, I'll handle them." Daryl replied.

"There're still good people, Daryl." Beth replied.

"I don't think any of the good ones survived."

 _You survived._ Beth thought. After a moment, she'd meant to say it out loud, but got distracted by a headstone off to her right.

 _Beloved father_ it read.

 _Daddy._ A voice whispered in her mind. She made to climb down off of Daryl's back and stood before the headstone.

 _He should have gotten one of these. He should have gotten a headstone with his name on it and the dates when he was born and when he died. He should have died a long time from now. In a bed nice and calm and old. Grandchildren and me and Maggie and Sean and Mom all around him, making him feel loved as he slips away._

Mr. Daryl Dixon studied the girl for a moment before bending down and picking a small bunch of flowers. He walked over to the headstone and placed the yellow plant on top in a respectful gesture. When he stepped back and was again standing next to Beth Greene, Beth took his hand in hers and squeezed gently.


End file.
